Face Down
by InTheRaine
Summary: Ziva is kidnapped and hurt by director David. To help her recover, will her stay with Tony clear the fog from her eyes about her feeling for her partner? And will it give him the courage to say what he's wanted to for so long..?
1. Chapter 1

Another blow to the face.. She started to bleed and cry. This wasn't normal for her. She needed to get away.

Her father just kept going, using every fighting tactic he had from his years with Mossad.

She had left. Left his own agency. He wasn't going to have it. He was demanding her respect.

**Do you feel like a man, when you push her around?**

Again he threw her to the ground..

"No one walks away from me Ziva. You won't be going back and I'm gonna teach you to run like a coward ever again," he whispered into her ear. She dove at him and tried to tackle him. He knew her bound hands were useless to her. But still she struggled to hurt him, trying to get away, tears streaming from her eyes.

**Do you feel better now, as she falls to the ground..?**

"I suppose.. It's in order I tell you a little secret… You must miss your mother a bit don't you Ziva?"

Ziva let out a deep growl of hatred and loathed him with all her being at his mere mention of her mother. It was true she did miss her. She also knew of a possibility that HE was involved in her death.

"_He had my mother killed…" _Those were Ari's words. Whether she believed him or not she wasn't sure but she knew she was probably about to find out.

"You're going to die here anyway it's probably fair you should know…" He leaned in close to her ear and drew out the dreaded words, "I.. killed… her…"

**As your lies crumble down…**

With that he aimed another kick to her ribs and landed the blow successfully. Robbing her of oxygen.

She just couldn't take anymore than she already had. This man was a monster, just like Ari, whom he had formed. He wasn't human, he wasn't her father. He was unfit to be given such an honorable title.

He pulled out his pistol and took aim right between her defeated and broken eyes. He could see how much he'd pushed her to the brink and a sinister smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"Goodbye Ziva…" She kept looking at him all of her being losing her will to live seeing as how she wouldn't be shortly. She just stared back up at him practically begging him to pull the trigger. Nothing could be worse than the pain she was feeling right now. For the first time in her life, Ziva David, was giving up.

_I'm so sorry Gibbs, Tony, McGee… I'll miss you… Thank you.._

As the evil in front of her prepared to squeeze the trigger the door to the darkened warehouse burst open to reveal an NCIS team very close to her heart.

"ON THE GROUND DIRECTOR DAVID!" shouted Gibbs. An agent being taken from him wasn't something he was prepared to go through again so soon.

"ZIVA," Tony screamed at the sight of her on her knees showing more emotion and looking more defeated than ever. She was special to him and he didn't want to lose her now. _I have to tell her…_

The Deputy Director was prepared to finish what he started. He slowly squeezed the trigger on the weapon, eyes defiant against the agents both pointing their guns back at him..


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: THIS IS MY XMAS PRESENT TO YOU ALL!!!! I KNOW SOME OF MY REVIEWERS WILL BE HAPPY TO SEE MY NEW ADDITION! THANK YOU ALL! Ok.. Most of this chapter is a flashback as to how the day progressed before she was kidnapped.. I don't know if I'll continue past this chapter because I can end it here unless I get a better idea. Will update if I do... R & R please! (I don't know the layout of Rock Creek Park I just needed a setting. Most parks have a jogging path in them so I dunno)

_Begin Flashback_

_Ziva had arrived at the NCIS squadroom at her normal early hour only to find Gibbs staring at the plasma with his back to her, coffee black as could be in his hand._

_She slid her backpack off of her shoulder down next to her desk and walked up beside him. He immediately started briefing her on the missing Petty Officer whose face was staring blankly back at them from the monitor just as the arrival of Tony and McGee was signaled by the dinging elevator._

"_Petty Officer Alan Cole turned up dead in Rock Creek Park around 6am today. A couple was jogging through and noticed his body lying beside the path. He was still in uniform when they found him, wallet and money intact so it wasn't a mugging. That's all we know 'til we get there. DiNozzo call Ducky. David, McGee, meet you at the truck in 5."_

Rock Creek Park

"_What do we got Duck?"_

"_Well Jethro it looks like these two gunshot wounds seem to be the cause of this poor man's demise. One to the heart one to the head. Expert marksmanship. Death would've been instantanious."_

_Gibbs gave him the "is this all you have for me" look._

"_I'm sorry but I'll know more when we get him back."_

_Gibbs made his way over to Tony who was shooting crime scene photos.  
_

"_Tell me you have something Tony.."_

"_Wish I could boss but this scene is squeaky clean... Well with the exception of the dead guy over- HEY!"_

_Gibbs slapped his head._

"_Something isn't right here Tony. The guy was shot by a pro. The crime scene has nothing to go on. Not a stepped on twig or footprint in sight. Only evidence we have are the bullets in the body. Something tells me it's gonna be a long case."_

_Tony groaned inwardly at the thought. _I was planning on telling Ziva this week. How am I gonna find time to do that without Gibbs breathing down my neck? She needs to know how I feel about her...

_Stop. Sooner he started focusing, sooner the case was over. Sooner the case was over, sooner he could talk to Ziva._

_As they made their way back up to the road to head back to HQ, Ziva couldn't help but feel something was out of place. Her years in Mossad had taught her never to ignore uncomfortable feelings in the field. It might just save your life._

_She told the team she would see them back there and she would ride with Ducky, Palmer, and the body and she went to check around while they were loading it into the M.E. Van. They didn't even notice she was missing. In fact, they had thought she'd left with everyone else._

_Gun drawn, she silently made her way through the woods back down to where they'd found P.O. Cole. Senses alert to anything, even the slightest movement for no one should be down at a taped off crime scene._

_She still had an uneasy feeling as she weaved through the trees, as if someone was watching her. _

_All of a sudden a figure revealed itself from behind a large tree trunk and stood right behind her his breath warm against her neck. She slowly turned and lowered her weapon, gasping at the familiar face. The face she had tried so hard to forget. That she had tried to get away from._

"_Shalom Ziva." Said deputy director David._

_Then everything went black..._

_As Ducky and Palmer made their way with the gurney into autopsy Gibbs was there waiting for him._

"_Where's Ziva?"_

"_Why, Jethro, I thought she was with you... Wasn't she?"_

"_She told me she was riding back with you guys."_

"_I'm sorry my friend but I never saw her after you left."_

_Gibbs stormed off to the elevator and slammed the button to head back up to the squad room. Something just wasn't right according to his famous gut. Why would Ziva lie? Well the whole spy thing aside what purpose would this serve? She had been acting a little on edge the whole time she was at the scene.._

_He made his way to Tony and McGee. Just then his cell phone rang. NUMBER BLOCKED it read._

"_Yeah Gibbs"_

"_Shalom Special Agent Gibbs. I believe you are down one of your precious agents yes? Well technically, she was my agent first.."_

"_David.." Gibbs thought with surprise._

_He held the phone against his shoulder whispering for McGee to start a trace on the phone call._

"_What are you doing to her? She obviously stayed here so long for a reason."_

"_Trust me.. Once I'm finished with her she'll learn never to walk away from me again"_

_Then the line went dead. Gibbs opened his mouth to say McGee better have the trace but he beat him to it._

"_Phone call came from an abandoned warehouse not too far from the navy yard. And what's going on boss?"_

"_NO TIME FOR EXPLANATIONS GET THE CAR!"_

_End Flashback._

The director slowly started to pull the trigger, completely indifferent to the fact that the federal agents all had their weapons pointed right for him. He was going to finish her off right in front of them for that was what he intended all along. He wanted them to see the light leave her eyes. Their precious Ziva. He knew of course that if he dropped a hint they would trace the call to lead them right here.

**Well I'll tell you my friend,**

What he didn't notice while he was looking at them was Ziva struggling to her feet and with one last attempt, plowing herself into him.

He was knocked off balance just long enough for the three armed NCIS agents to put a good number of bullets into his body.

**One day this world's gotta end**

"McGee call the paramedics."

As McGee went outside to make the phone calls Gibbs and Tony took care of Ziva. They untied her and held her shaking broken self until the medics arrived to take her to the hospital.

"Boss can I ride with her?"

Gibbs gave Tony a knowing look and slowly nodded.

A/N: AHHHH!! I REALIZED WHEN I WAS WRITING THIS I PUT THE SONG LYRICS OUTTA ORDER!! WHOOPS! OH WELL IT SOUNDS BETTER THIS WAY! Ok so I'm gonna keep going one more chapter so EXPECT MORE!!!

3 Raine


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Ello everyone! Sorry it's been so long I've had a very severe case of writer's block. So, here we go, in this chapter Tony and Ziva go into the hospital. Will Tony finally say what he has to say? Gee wonder what it is? ... R&R.**

Tony was standing rooted to the spot in front of the door to Ziva's hospital room. He couldn't bring himself to see her in that condition again. His Ziva, so hurt. Not just physically but emotionally. She doesn't cry and she never lets her guard down but the whole time he and Gibbs had been holding on to her she just wouldn't stop crying. On the ride over, the fear was visible in her eyes. What had he done to her?

He realized he needed to be there for her right now. He couldn't think about how he felt he needed to think about her now. He needed to stop worrying about what would happen if he told her now and she was in such a terrible state she reacted badly. Tony wouldn't have been able to take it.

He forced his feet to move and his hand to turn the door handle. He took his first steps into the room to find Ziva staring into space. Her face expressionless.

"Ziva..."

She immediately turned to face him as if she were surprised he was there. Then she noticed it was just Tony and managed to force a weak smile.

"Hey Tony. Thank you for riding with me." She turned away her eyes filling with tears. She couldn't let him see her like this. He shouldn't have to worry about her.

She felt a hand brush by her cheek. He was there smiling down at her but she could see the hurt in his eyes. Was he upset because she was hurt?

"You don't have to be so guarded. It's ok to cry or to be sad. Don't worry." And with that he sat down on the hospital bed and she proceeded to let the tears fall while leaning on his shoulder.

"He.. He killed her Tony," she sobbed.

"Who?"

"My mother..."

**As your lies crumble down,**

**New life she has found.**

Tony just sat there and let her cry until she couldn't cry anymore. He held her close until her sobs faded and she felt better. He couldn't help it. He loved her. But he couldn't tell her now...

The rest of the team came by to say hello and get well soon but they eventually left to do paperwork. Tony stayed all night until the next morning when she was allowed to leave.

"Hey Ziva"

She was filling out her release paperwork at the front desk. There was a bandage on her head from the butt of David's gun hitting her. She had some more on littler cuts but he didn't care. She was still beautiful to him.

"Hi Tony." What had happened in the room yesterday was still a little awkward for her. But it was so nice of him. He was there for her. No one else would do that for her.

"Um, I was wondering, if until just tomorrow when your head feels a little better, maybe you could stay with me. I'm pretty sure you don't want to stay with Gibbs or McGee. And you probably don't want to stay with Abby unless you want to sleep in a spare coffin." He laughed at his own joke.

"I'm perfectly capable-" Wait, why was he doing this for her? He knew she was fine on her own. She guessed he was just trying to be nice. He cared and just didn't want her to be hurt. She knew he was worried about how she was mentally not physically. And she was not ok.

"Yeah I'd like that. But just for one night and don't get any ideas. Can you take me by my apartment first so I can pick up some clothes?"

"No problem." SUCCESS! Wait why was that a success? He realized now how terrified he was of telling her. He couldn't do this.

They went and go some of Ziva's things for her to stay over. She couldn't drive now because of her concussion (not that it would've been any better) so he drove. They eventually came to his apartment.

He let himself and Ziva in and got her settled. It was getting late so he quietly told her he would get dinner ready.

Ziva took the time to wonder why he had been acting so uncomfortable around her all of a sudden. It was his idea she come over after all. Did she do something? She couldn't think of anything she might have done.

She put it out of her mind and took a short fitful nap.

**Face down in the dirt,**

Her father's face was everywhere with a sinister smile plastered on every one. She started to run. She found herself in NCIS. He was there with a gun pointed at her mother's forehead. He pulled the trigger and she was dead.

_Where's Gibbs?! Help me! Where are you?! _

All of a sudden he appeared. He was sitting at his desk, blood pouring from a gunshot wound to the chest. Then, Tony was there. His throat was cut and he was dead too.

**She said "this doesn't hurt,**

Ziva screamed and woke up to find herself in Tony's arms. She fought him thinking it was her father but he held her tight.

"He, he got you..." She said in between bursts of tears.

**She said,**

**I finally had enough.**

"I'm right here Ziva I've got you..."

**A/N: OHHHH cliffie.. I'm evil but I have an end to my writers block! Does a little dance**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Ok, no more of the song to use so I'm going to just continue the story without it.**

Later that night Ziva barely touched the spaghetti and specialty sauce Tony had made for her. She was still rattled by her nightmare. What was worse was that Tony kept seeing her so vulnerable. Why was she so comfortable letting her guard down for him? She couldn't be falling...

Tony had stayed in his awkward silence mode the rest of the night like he had been before. He still felt so scared by his feelings for her. He was in a bad position but it was too late. He had fallen in love with her and he couldn't talk himself out of it. He also couldn't talk himself into voicing his feelings. He was so lost in his own thoughts he didn't even see Ziva clear her plate and head for the guest bedroom without a word.

He opened a beer and sat down on the couch to see what was on TV. He felt like staying up to watch a movie and it was Saturday so he wasn't worried about work. He was worried about Ziva.

About an hour later he heard footsteps and felt her plop down on the couch next to him.

Tony took a sip of his beer and kept staring at the TV. "Thought you were asleep."

Ziva shifted slightly uncomfortable with the way he was acting.

"I couldn't. I'm as awake as Abby after her morning Caf-Pow."

Tony smiled at her joke. She saw that he had acknowledged her for the first time since they got back.

"Thank you for dinner by the way." Tony nodded silently and still stared at the TV. She thought he was ignoring her again, so she took the beer out of his hands and stole a sip.

"Hey what the hell? I'm drinking that!"

"Oh what's the matter chimp, afraid of germs?"

It seemed as if they had each gotten over his silence and returned to their usual bickering.

"It's wimp Zee-vah, and Tony Dinozzo is not a wimp."

"Fine so what are we watching..."

Halfway through Tony's movie they had both fallen asleep on the couch with Ziva leaning her head on Tony's lap.

NCISNCISNCISNCIS

Tony awoke to find that something heavy was on his lap. His legs had fallen asleep and his back was stiff from sleeping upright on the couch all night.

He looked down and saw that Ziva was fast asleep with her head on his legs. She was snoring "like a drunken sailor with emphysema" but he still thought she was beautiful.

As she began to stir she looked up at him her eyes open just a crack. He smiled one of his thousand watt smiles at her which was an awesome thing to wake up to. She was surprised by herself at that thought.

She sat up grabbing her head as she got dizzy from her concussion and lay back down again. She then realized where her head was located and immediately removed herself replacing the place where her head had been with her feet.

She stared at him and gave him the sly ninja girl smile.

"So, feeling any better?" Tony said with a grin that said his mind was up to no good.

"A little. Getting a decent night's sleep helped a lot."

"You don't have to leave right away you know. Wanna stay and just hang out?"

"Sure but before you order pizza and all of that other junk I'm going to make you some breakfast as payment for dinner last night."

When she made an attempt to head for the kitchen again she had to sit down because her head was throbbing.

"Want your pain meds?"

"Ugh.. yes please."

NCISNCISNCISNCIS

The day went on after breakfast with their normal routine of bickering while with no acknowledgment of the tension that had been building up. Before they knew it, it was the middle of the afternoon.

Tony hadn't said about Ziva's nightmare the night before but something was getting to him about what she said and she hadn't really let him out of her sight since.

"_He got you..."_

Why was she so worried? It was just a dream. Nothing could've happened to him. True it freaked her out but this was beyond worrying for her partner. It couldn't be that she felt the same, no.. This was Ziva. She never let her guard down for anything much less to fall in love with him. Him. Tony DiNozzo.

But still.

"Hey Ziva.." Tony turned to her from his seat on the couch watching another one of his movies.

She saw the concern in his eyes. She knew what he was about to say and didn't know what to do.

"Yes?"

"Um, last night, when you had that nightmare, you said something about him getting me. I-"

"I must have still been sleeping. I don't remember saying anything to you..." Ziva said. She simply couldn't tell him the truth. She was slowly but surely beginning to realize her feelings for him (and about losing him); and it scared the living hell out of her. Besides, Tony was a player so why would he see her differently?

"Right.. Sure... Just a dream..." He had to admit he was a little disappointed. The thought of Ziva getting all worried about losing him gave him just a slight amount of hope. He had hoped that this would have been true. He wanted to tell her. He just couldn't bring himself to be rejected by her. It would be more than he could bear...

How can people who are so close, know so little about their own feelings for each other?

**A/N: I know you all probably hate me for waiting so long but I honestly couldn't think and school is murder! But I like the way the Tiva cluelessness is portrayed in the last 2 paragraphs... Oh well tell me what ya think!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I bet you all hate me by now... I'm so sorry... Well, this is it, the grand finale (probably not so grand but I'm gonna try.) P.S. I know Valentine's day was a while ago but I've been busy and like just got this idea... Enjoy.**

Tony opened his eyes and lay awake in bed. Sun filtered through the blinds on his window and he heard movement in the kitchen. _Ziva's up... _He sighed at the thought of having her so close yet so far. _I.. I just can't lose her. I can't feel like this and not tell her. If I'm rejected... _He pushed that thought out of his head. He needed to do this. If he never knew, it would probably be worse. He then realized what day it was. An idea popped into his mischievous head. He was pretty sure he had some candy lying around here somewhere...

He rose and got dressed and moved from his room to the kitchen where Ziva was making him breakfast.

"Morning" she called to him as he entered without even turning around to know he was there. _God that's awesome,_ he admired.

"Well this was a pleasant surprise. Wouldn't have anything to do with a certain day that today is, would it?" he smiled and positioned himself so she wouldn't see what was behind him.

She turned and placed a plate of chocolate chip pancakes in front of him. "Happy Valentine's Day Tony" was written on them in whip cream.

Tony beamed at her and handed her the box that had been hiding behind his back. "And for the lovely lady."

Ziva beamed right back.

The room grew silent and Tony took the opportunity to ask her something he'd wanted to for a long time.

"Hey Ziva, since you're leaving today and all, and it is Valentine's Day, do you think maybe you'd let me take you to dinner tonight?"

Ziva's heart started beating so fast it almost ended up in her throat. She took a deep breath to calm herself... _Say... It..._

"I'd love to Tony."

"Ok well, I'll drop you off at your appartment in a little bit so you can get resettled and get ready!" He could barely keep the excitement from appearing in his voice so he took a huge mouthful of pancakes to prevent further conversation.

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS

Tony straightened his tie and cleared his throat.

**Flashes back**

"_Where are you gonna take me?"_

"_You'll see... You might want to dress up a bit though, just to be safe..." He grinned at her and she gave him a look._

**END**

He absolutely couldn't contain himself anymore. He needed to see her so he reached out and gave her apartment door a knock.

She appeared almost immeadiately (she had been so eager she had started getting ready an hour before she needed to and was waiting the whole time.)

Tony clamped his jaw shut to keep it from dropping. Ziva was clad in a deep, dark, red dress, how appropriate for Valentine's Day. Wasn't too short, wasn't too long. The dress was backless and had two straps that came to a halter tie around her neck. Her Star of David still gleamed brightly even in the dim light of the hallway.

He composed himself enough to smile, put his hand on her back and lead her out the building to the car.

The ride was silent apart from Ziva nagging Tony to tell her where they were going. He ended it quickly with: "How many times do I have to say I'm not telling? Why are you so eager to spoil the surprise?" He pouted. "Besides, if you needed to know that badly you probably would've tortured me already..."

Ziva thumped him on the back of the head.

"I deserved that."

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS

After they had passed by several high end restaurants, Ziva was beginning to get curious again. As if to answer her unasked question Tony eventually made a turn down into a park that Ziva had never known existed.

"There's a restaurant here?"

"Something like that."

He parked the car and got out, opening the door on Ziva's side.

They walked for a little while until they came to a beautiful clearing. The setting sun illuminated a stream that ran alongside and there were roses lining the edges where the treeline met the grass. A table was sitting dead center. Two lit red candles were sitting in the middle and a bottle of wine sat in a cooler next to them.

Ziva gasped at the sight and Tony thought she saw her eyes glisten with a tear but she didn't cry. He smiled at her.

"Don't even try to get me to tell you how I did it because I will not reveal my secret even for my life."

She laughed and the two sat down to eat the chicken parmigiana that Tony had made.

The dinner passed by relatively quietly until Ziva broke the silence.

"Um Tony, why would you go through all of this for me? You've already allowed me to stay with you until I felt better but to do all of this? I, I don't know what to say. You didn't have to.."

"Well if you don't know what to say, then I think I'll say something. Uh Ziva, I wanted you to stay with me because I, I wanted to tell you something kinda important. And this whole dinner thing I wanted to do just for you because... I... I love you Ziva..."

Tony lowered his eyes prepared for the worse and didn't notice her staring at him, wide eyed with tears streaming down her face.

"Tony... I love you too..."

With that he stood up, grabbed her hand, pulled her close and his lips met hers. It was at that moment with her in his arms that all of his fears, all of his doubts melted away.

_I love you..._

**Ok it was slightly corny but I'm kinda weird like that. I finally finished it. It's done but I will return. Expect more, expect better, and expect NCIS!**


End file.
